Flipped
by Lost my Marbles
Summary: Lily had always disliked James. Then, something changes over the summer, and all of a sudden, she finds herself falling for him. But the tables have turned and James doesn't feel the same about her. Can she get James to change his mind? LJ
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Lily Evans opened her closet drawer. She shifted the heaps of clothes just lying there. Underneath all of that, there was a picture of none other than James Potter. Why she was looking at his picture, Lily didn't know. Quite honestly, it was really weird, because for the past six years, all he had done was bother her. But last year, sixth year, James had given her a picture of himself.

_Flashback_

Lily was sitting alone in one of the compartments on her way back home from Hogwarts when James Potter dropped by. Lily was curious about what was going on because James came alone, without the rest of the Marauders.

"Lily?"

"Go away James," Lily responded, no matter how curious she was. Anything James did usually led to some sort of prank pulled on her or some other sort of problem. James the trouble-maker. Literally.

"No, just…I wanted to give you something," James said carefully.

"I don't need it," Lily told him.

But James stuck it in her face. "A picture? Of you?" Lily asked. "I get enough of you at school, now you need to haunt my vacation too?"

"Lily, I was thinking about what you told me, in fifth year," James told her.

"What, I told you to shut up, was that it? Why don't you listen—"

"No, that thing after OWLS."

Lily remembered. "That speech I gave you for jinxing Snivel—I mean, Snape?"

"Yeah. Well, I was thinking about that, and you were right. So, I'm giving you my picture, to remember me…and…" James conjured a beautiful white lily with little pink and purple streaks on each petal and handed it to her, "a lily…which is you, and…" James brought out a little wooden stag from his pocket, "this. I carved it myself. It's like my sign. I want you to keep it. To remind you of me."

Lily was speechless. James was actually being sweet. Lily didn't want to respond with a cheeky comment. All she said was, "Thank you…"

James looked sympathetically at her. "Do you want company?"

"Does it look like I'm lonely?" Lily snapped. She knew he was being nice, but she didn't think she'd be able to survive in close proximity with James Potter for long periods of time. Instantly, she regretted her snapping as James turned around and walked right out of the compartment. She had half a mind to call him back.

Lily's best friend, Angelise Marle (who adored the name Angel and forced everyone to call her that), finally entered the compartment as Lily was taking in the sweet fragrance of the lily.

"Where'd you get that, Lils?" Angel asked her.

"It's _LILY_. And James Potter gave these to me," Lily explained.

Angel just stared. Angel had the _biggest_ crush on James. Not that she'd get jealous if Lily and he dated, because she thought that they were meant for each other, she just liked him (a whole lot).

_End flashback_

Lily picked up James' picture and then she remembered the stag. The lily, being a magical one, had survived in the vase Lily had left it in. It was still as beautiful as Lily had left it.

Lily was entering her last and final year at Hogwarts; seventh year. Just a few weeks ago, Dumbledore had sent her the letter saying she had become Head Girl. Lily was so excited that she had sent ten letters consecutively about the responsibilities of Head Girl each approximately two feet long to Angel. After the tenth letter Angel had replied saying "I GET IT!"

Lily found the stag under a red shirt that she hated and set the stag on her bedside table next to the lily. She didn't know where to keep James' picture. She didn't even know why she went looking for it in the first place. Lily just felt a bit different about James Potter.

Her first thought was to find the best picture frame in the whole house and frame James' picture. His picture wasn't that big. It was like a 4" x 6" photo. She had frames like that just lying around. She ran downstairs and into the kitchen. She spotted one with Petunia's picture in it. Lily glared at the picture-Petunia. Lily instinctively ripped up Petunia's photo and tossed it out the window. The picture frame was really pretty and she had absolutely no idea why anyone would want to waste it on Petunia.

Lily carefully slipped James' picture into the frame and glanced at the calendar. July 28th. A month and three more days until she'd finally be returning to Hogwarts.

--James--  
James woke up to Sirius pounding a pillow on his head. "WAKE UP PRONGSIE! IT'S YOUR _BIRTHDAY! JULY 28th!_" I groaned. That pillow did actually hurt.

"Jeez, Padfoot, did you have to hit so hard?" James asked him.

Sirius just grinned evilly. "GET UP PRONGS YOUR MOM IS WAITING!"

"Padfoot, could you get any louder?"

"Oh sure, _Sonorus!_" Sirius grinned even more evilly than before. This was not a good sign. Sirius' voice boomed, "**_GET UP JAMES_**!"

James covered his ears. "I'd be surprised if my eardrum didn't break, Sirius. _Quietus!_"

"AWW!" Sirius whined. "I liked being loud!"

"Sirius, James!" Mrs. Potter's voice rang upstairs through the intercom. "Get downstairs! Dumbledore has sent letters for you!"

Sirius and James raced to get downstairs first. Mrs. Potter smiled disapprovingly (A/N: did that make sense?). "You two are really rowdy today. Happy birthday Jamie."

"Mom, don't call me that. It's James," James whined.

"I know that, I named you," Mrs. Potter informed him. Sirius snickered. James ignored him.

"Could I see the letter, Mum?" James asked. James was handed the letter. He ripped it open. "Doesn't Dumbledore send letters earlier than this?"

Mrs. Potter replied, "Well, yeah, he sent them a few weeks ago. I was just saving them."

"_Mum!_"

"I don't mind getting letters late," said Sirius.

"See Sirius doesn't mind," Mrs. Potter told James. "Why do you complain about everything?"

"_Mum!_"

Sirius and Mrs. Potter snickered.

A girl yawned behind them. "Hello, Abby," Sirius greeted her.

Abagail Potter (going into third year) yawned again. "Hey, Sirius. Happy Birthday Jamesie."

"Don't call me—!" James began.

"Good morning Abby," Mrs. Potter interrupted.

"Oh, sorry, Mum. Good morning Mum."

"That's better."

"I've got your letters Abby," James imitated Mrs. Potter.

"Shut up James," Mrs. Potter said.

"Do you want it Abby deary?" James kept going.

"That's enough now James."

"Oh go on Abagail _daaarling_."

"Shut up."

James, Sirius, and Abby snickered.

James tore open his letter and gasped. "Oh my God, there must be some sort of mistake—I mean, er…this isn't right. Dumbledore has lost his mind…what?" There was a Head Boy badge.

"Oh James dearie! _HEAD BOY!_" Mrs. Potter was so proud.

"Dumbledore _has_ lost his mind Prongs," Sirius told James sympathetically. "You couldn't be Head Boy… I think you might've gotten Moony's letter by mistake…"

"Who in their right mind would make James Head Boy?" Abby asked innocently.

"Oh be quiet Abby," Mrs. Potter hugged James so tight, he felt it hard to breathe. "What do you want James? I need to get you a gift for becoming Head Boy!"

"I…er…don't need anything…"

"NONSENSE! IF I SAY YOU'RE GETTING SOMETHING, YOU'RE GETTING SOMETHING!"

"Okay, Mum…er…I don't know what I want. I don't really need anything..." James tried to say.

"Except Lily," said Sirius.

"What was that, Sirius?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"Oh yeah, but Sirius, I've gotta tell you something…" James took his best friend by the arm and dragged him upstairs. Literally.

"Sirius, I dunno, I've been doing some thinking over the summer—"

"LISTEN TO _THIS _EVERYBODY! JAMES _THINKS_!" Sirius yelled.

"Shh! Shut up Sirius!"

"Oh sorry."

"Anyway, I've been thinking, maybe Lily isn't the right girl for me. Maybe I was just chasing after her and I don't need to. Maybe I should just choose someone else…"

"I'm hearing a lot of 'maybes," Sirius said doubtfully.

"Yeah, I know," James said. "Because I'm not sure. Ever since fifth year, I liked her, but she always blew me off. She obviously doesn't like me back. Maybe I should just give up."

"But you two look so _cute_ together!" Sirius said.

"But you'll never know because Lily doesn't like me very much."

"_Very much?_ That's an _understatement!_"

Abby walked in. "What are you two talking about?"

"Lily," Sirius responded without skipping a beat, ignoring James's desperate motions not to tell her.

"_Evans?_" Abby asked incredulously, as if liking a girl that pretty was against the law and that James should be sent to Azkaban for it.

"How many other Lilys do we know?" James asked dully.

"Why?"

_What do you mean 'why'?_ James said to himself.

"Well, you see…" and James and Sirius told Abby the problem.

"What do you think I should do? She hates me," James told her.

"You shouldn't annoy her," Abby said wisely. "It seems like the message she's trying to convey is that you should grow up. James I think she's right. You're too immature for her liking. If you act properly, she most probably'll start to see what a great guy you are."

"But why can't I act normally?" James asked her.

"If you become more mature, that's gonna be you're new 'normal.'"

"I didn't get that."

"Never mind. Just…try to please her if you really like her."

"But I'm not sure I do. You see, I don't like the way she treats me," James explained. "It's really a conflict. I don't know what to do."

"Just lay off her a little bit," Abby suggested. "If you stop asking her out all the time, she'll get her space, so she can actually see you from the proper angle. If you're just on top of her all the time, she'll just get annoyed. See if that works. After a while, when she gets used to you being all mature and stuff, you could ask her out again and maybe she'll actually agree. It seemed to me (as I was listening to your story) that you don't really care about her. You're just asking her out for the fun of it."

"But—"

"No buts. You asked for my advice. Take it or leave it. Don't bother me anymore." And with that, she left the room muttering "_boys_."

Sirius stared after her. "I didn't get any of it."

James just shook his head. "I don't really wanna explain. I'll try what she said. Be more mature…how do I do that?"

"Well, don't act so immature," Sirius suggested.

"Duh."

"Well, don't ask me! Immature is my middle name! Sirius Immature Black."

"Yeah, well that definitely describes you well. And it makes your initials spell _sib_."

"Sib what?"

"Mature…" James mumbled. "How the heck'm I gonna do that?"

Sirius was puzzled. "Sib-mature? I think you mean _signature!_ Hey, I don't have a signature yet. I'd better get practicing. Got any paper--"

"Padfoot?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

--On the Hogwarts Express--  
Lily saved Angel and herself a seat when she realized that she was Head Girl. She hastily made her way to the front of the bus. _I wonder who's the Head Boy_, she thought. She went to greet the Prefects. The Head Boy wasn't there. _I bet it's Remus._ But then Remus showed up with a Prefect's badge. _Oh I hope it's not a Slytherin!_

Then none other than James Potter waltzed into the compartment. "This is pretty cool," he told everyone.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Lily spat. No matter how her feelings had changed towards James Potter, he was still the immature prick that didn't deserve to be in the Prefect's compartment.

"For your information…" James pointed at his chest. There was a shiny little Head Boy badge.

"Say WHAT?" Lily's head was spinning already. Who in their right mind would choose James Potter to be Head Boy? Dumbledore must've gone haywire.

"That can't be right," Lily muttered.

"Look at this cool new badge Lillian," James told her, showing off the badge. It shined in the light.

"EW POTTER! My name is LILY! Not LILLIAN! LILY IS NOT SHORT FOR LILLIAN! THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

"I'm sorry, I just assumed—"

"Well don't assume again!"

"We've got to tell these Prefects what to do." James cut in. He gave an easy speech that made everyone clap at the end.

Lily began her bit, but no one was paying attention. After a while, Lily gave up. She was fuming when she asked James, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get everyone to listen to you!"

"I dunno, I guess, not be like you."

"_What's that supposed to mean?_"

"Nothing! Just to be so…serious about this stuff," James explained.

"But you're supposed to be. This is _Head Girl or Head Boy stuff!_"

"But you don't need to act like it is. Be that way, but don't show it."

Lily decided that she didn't need to give a speech in the end for three reasons: Because she wasn't gonna be able to, because no one was listening, and James had already told everyone everything anyway.

"It's okay Lily," James told her. "You'll get the hang of it."

Lily sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, I'm gonna get back to see Angel. I haven't seen her all through."

"Who's Angel?" James asked.

"_Angel Marle?_ You don't know her? The girl with the biggest crush on you?" Lily asked unbelievingly.

"Seriously? I know her, but I know her as _Angelise_."

"She hates that name."

"I never knew she had the _biggest crush_ on me. This is interesting…"

"Oh, she'll be happy if you ask her out," Lily told him.

"Will she?"

"Yeah, but she's really odd. She thinks that you and me make a 'great couple'."

"That's what Sirius says. I think I'll like Angelise."

"_Angel!_"

"Oh right."

James accompanied Lily to go visit Angel. Lily asked him about fifty times to go away, and that he had other friends to go talk to, but James just wouldn't leave. Lily liked having him around though, she just didn't want him to know that. James wasn't acting like he fancied her. Just like Lily was some sort of old friend. It was uncomfortable really.

Lily just decided that James wasn't gonna leave and that she could live with it.

Lily opened Angel's compartment. "And who's our guest?" Angel asked.

"Don't you know him?" Lily asked back. "It's James Potter."

"I was joking," Angel told her. "Er…hi James."

"Just wondering…" James answered, "Could I talk to you in private, Angel?"

Angel giggled. "Sure!"

Lily was sure that the reason James wanted to speak "privately" was because he was gonna ask her out. But she wondered why he didn't do it in front of her. The old James would've done that. And the old James would've teased her when no one was listening to her back with the Prefects. But this new James offered advice.

Lily felt odd. She was expecting to be asked out. She felt a bit empty without it. It was hard to explain. Now her best friend was gonna date James Potter when she decided that she wanted to. _Oh God I'm being selfish!_ Lily thought. _I can't always get luck. If Angel likes James and James likes Angel, who am I to butt in? But I thought he liked me…_

While Lily was confused in her thoughts, James and Angel walked in, now accompanied by Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"What're you all doing here?" Lily asked, dazed.

"I thought I'd bring some friends," James said. Lily felt good to be hearing his voice. He ran his fingers through his hair. When he used to do that, Lily used to get all upset, but now…Lily thought it was nice when his hair was all messy. He looked…cute.

The food cart lady stopped by. "I'll get us some food," James offered.

"I want to!" whined Sirius.

"Let me," said Remus.

"No, I'll go," Peter stood up.

"It's okay," Angel told them.

"No I will!" Lily ran out the door and came back in less than a minute with about a hundred snacks.

"Wow, you overdid yourself a bit," James commented.

"So?" Lily asked him. "Is that a problem? Are you not hungry? Fine, then I'll eat all this by myself."

Instantly there was an uproar. Sirius took all the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Angel and Peter lunged on top of him and stole some. Remus and James took all the Chocolate Frogs. Sirius "wanted some" so he stole some from James, who in turn stole some from Remus, who stole some Bertie Botts from Angel, who stole some from Peter, who stole some from Sirius.

Lily was left with all the Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Sugar Quills, White Chocolate flowers, and a whole assortment of other snacks. Everyone noticed what a pile Lily had, and took everything, except the white chocolate flowers. Lily rolled her eyes, stole a Bertie Botts and a chocolate frog from Sirius and a cauldron cake from Angel and a random pile from Remus and Peter and started nibbling on a white chocolate flower. This one happened to be a daffodil.

"Want to share?" Lily offered.

Everyone looked at each other. "NAH!" they said at the same time. Lily shrugged.

She opened a white chocolate lily. This one was so perfect, it reminded her of the lily she still had at home, on her bedside table. She hoped Petunia wouldn't get at it. Then she remembered that she had packed the lily for her trip. She enchanted it so it wouldn't die in her trunk. Well, at least Petunia wouldn't do anything to it. Lily sighed. No one noticed.

--At Hogwarts--

"We need to tell the Prefects where to go!" Lily told James, fretting.

"Calm down, no we don't," James said. "The Prefects know where to go. They've been here for five years. Did the Heads tell _you_ where to go when you were Prefect? Nope, Dumbledore needs to show us the Heads Dorms."

"Oh…right."

Dumbledore led Lily and James to a picture of a vase of flowers. This was the entrance to the Head's Dorms. The password was "Rose petals." Dumbledore left Lily and James to enjoy the Head's Dorm. Lily looked around. The Head's Common Room was circular and had two full bookcases and many squishy armchairs. James and her spent an hour looking at books. Then James went out onto the balcony and remembered something.

"I promised Padfoot I'd ride outside with him," James told Lily.

"Padfoot? Ride outside?" Lily asked, confused.

"Well, Padfoot is my nickname for Sirius, and I want to ride my _broomstick_ outside."

"Could I come watch?" Lily bit her lip.

"Err…sure, I promised Angel she could come watch too. That's okay with you right?" James asked carefully.

"Sure, why wouldn't it? She's my best friend!" Lily told him. But deep down, she was hoping it would be just James and no Angel. Whatever. Lily told herself again that she shouldn't be so selfish.

(A/N: --this is that little voice in her head, and _this_ is Lily 'talking' back to it.)

--But you know you can't help it.

_What do you m—Hey! Are you one of those little annoying voices at the back of people's heads?_

--Nope just yours.

_How come I'm always cursed?_

--I wouldn't call it cursed, at least you have one! Some people are unlucky _not_ to!

_Why are you yelling at me?_

--I just wanted to point out that—oh never mind. You know you can't help being selfish and/or jealous.

_Yes I can. Without your help. Now go away. I know why people think you're annoying._

--I'm insulted. But you know that you've been really mean to James these past years and now you have to go apologize.

_WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?_

--You know you like James Potter.

_What're you saying?_

--Are you deaf? YOU. LIKE. JAMES. POTTER.

_Say_ what

--You know it's true…

_I'd curse you if you were real._

--You're hallucinating Lilykins!

_Don't call me Lilykins! What do you mean by "I'm hallucinating?"_

--Lilykins! Lilykins! I mean, you think—never mind. You are too difficult.

_Aw shut up! Do you ever go away?_

--Not until you do as you're told.

_And what am I told?_

--To go apologize to James.

_Why?_

--Didn't we just get over this? Because you were mean to him.

_Why do you decide to bother me now? Couldn't you have come last year? And told me not to 'be mean to him'?_

--No.

_Why?_

--None of your business.

_But you're part of me. Anything that's your business is my business too._

--I never said it was my business.

_Huh?_

--'_Huh?'_ Honestly, you are so stupid. This is turning out to be a completely pointless argument. I'm off. Weren't you going to go with James?

_Oh right._

--(No answer)

_It's gone!_

--No I'm not!

_Darn._

--But this time I'm really leaving. But be warned, I'm coming back if you don't do what I told you to do!

_Be that way!_

Lily followed James out of the Heads Common Room and out onto the Quidditch Pitch. James stopped at the Gryffindor common room to pick up Sirius, Angel, and his broom (the new Silver Arrow).

"Hey Lils!" Angel greeted.

"Hi Angel!" Lily hugged her. "Long time, no see!"

"Yeah, I know!"

"Hasn't it only been two hours Prongs?" Sirius asked. "Or am I hallucinating?"

"No, it has only been two hours, Padfoot. Don't worry," James told him.

"Oh okay."

"Let's go. I can't wait to go fly again," James told them. "You wanna come Moony?"

"Moony?" Lily and Angel asked at the same time.

"Remus," Sirius explained.

"So you wanna come?" James asked again.

Remus was sitting on the couch reading a thick novel. "No."

"Oh okay. Are you gonna commentate our next Quidditch match again Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I have been, haven't I Padfoot, for the past six years."

"Actually, five because James and I only started playing on the Quidditch team for five years," Sirius corrected.

"Yeah, but I _began_ commentating in first year," Remus informed them.

"Yeah, you did!" Sirius said gleefully. "You, Jamesie and I took turns commentating in first year. McGonagall got mad at us for 'commentating in a biased manner!'"

Angel giggled.

"Have fun, you all," Remus went back to his book. James and Sirius shrugged.

"You wanna come Pete?" Sirius asked.

Peter was just watching Remus read his book with amazement. "Err…no thanks Padfoot." Sirius shrugged again.

"Are we gonna go now?" Angel asked impatiently.

"Yeah," Sirius told her. James and Sirius led the group out onto the Quidditch field. Angel and Lily sat on the stands.

"It isn't very interesting to just _watch_ them," Lily said.

"I'm afraid of heights," Angel gulped.

"Well, I want to go fly. You don't mind do you?"

"No. Go ahead."

Lily walked down onto the pitch. James flew down. "Hey Lily, what're you doing?"

"Well, I was just wondering…if you'd teach me to fly," Lily asked timidly. She had never been timid to James before. But that was the old times. Both Lily and James had changed. Lily liked James and James was acting more mature. Lily liked that.

"Sure. Here, borrow my broom," James told her. "Have you ever flown before?"

"No. But it doesn't look so difficult…and it looks fun."

"It is. Try."

Lily kicked off. She sped off into the air. Wow, it was so high and beautiful. Lily loved the view. She flew even higher. She found that it was easy to control the broom.

"You're doing great Lily!" James shouted from below. Lily smiled down.

James watched Lily as she went higher and higher and circled the whole stadium. Lily had actually asked him to teach her to fly. Lily was actually talking to him. She really was acting different. She was acting like a friend to James. James thought that was fine. But right when James found a new girl, Lily goes and changes her whole attitude. James felt a bit annoyed.

Lily smiled down to him again. James felt his heart melt to see that wonderful smile being flashed his way. He couldn't help not smiling back up.

"What's Lily doing?" Sirius asked stupidly.

"She flying, you idiot!" James called back.

"On a broom?"

"Yes, on a broom you dumb—!"

"Language James!" Angel and Lily and Sirius shouted together.

"Sorry!"

"James, I'm flying!" Lily told him happily flying down to where James was standing.

"You like flying?" James asked.

"Yeah."

"You wanna try out for a Quidditch part?"

"I don't think I'll be any good at any of them though."

"Try out for Chaser," James suggested. "I'm Chaser."

"No, I don't think I can catch or throw."

"How about Beater?"

"I don't think I can hit anything."

"Keeper?"

"I don't think I can block."

"Seeker?"

"Maybe…" Lily pondered.

"Try!" James said. "You might make it!"

"You're Quidditch captain aren't you?" Lily asked.

"You didn't know that?" James asked curiously.

"I'm just kidding! Of course I knew that!" Lily grinned. "What does Sirius play?"

"Keeper. He's really good."

"I assumed."

"Actually, we need a new Seeker and a Chaser," James told her. "And a Beater, actually…"

"I'll try out for Seeker or Chaser, but I'm gonna need lots of help," Lily said.

"I'll train you," James suggested. "I'll get you ready to play Seeker. Seeker and Chaser tryouts are on Friday. Don't miss it."

"All right, I won't," Lily laughed.

"Hi all!" Sirius joined them.

"Are we going up?" Angel asked.

"Yeah," James said.

--Girls Dormitory:--

Angel and Lily weren't the only girls in their dormitory. There was Alice Hanson, who was constantly fawning over Frank Longbottom (who left the school last year) and there was Molly Prewett, who was constantly fawning over Arthur Weasley (who also left last year). Naturally, these two were best friends. Lily and Angel talked to them of course, but they weren't the greatest of friends.

There were a lot of Gryffindor girls in their year, so they had to have another dorm to accommodate them all. There were three in the dorm next door.

Lily sat down on her bed and sighed. Alice and Molly were fast asleep.

"Lils, is there something you're not telling me?" Angel asked quietly, so she wouldn't wake up the other two.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"About James. I've noticed there's been a great change in you. You're acting really different around him. You're acting like, _friends_."

"Err…we made a truce in the Heads Dorm," Lily hastily replied. Angel looked at her suspiciously. "We _did!_" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Fine, Angel. I…"

"You what?" Angel asked. "I won't get angry."

"You will. I'm being selfish," Lily told her. "I'm trying not to, I swear. I don't like it, I…" Lily trailed off.

"Oh Lily. I'm just guessing…but…do you like James?" Angel asked. Lily whined like a little girl and said "No!" in a really high-pitched way.

"It's okay Lily!" Angel told her. "Really! I think you two are meant for each other!"

"But James likes you!" Lily wailed. "And I don't want to be selfish, like Petunia!"

"Don't worry Lily. I don't care if you date James. I think I've…gotten over him."

"You're just saying that. You can't have gotten over him! You just started going out with him _today!_"

"No, seriously."

"I'm going to bed. It's not even been one day here, and I'm already ruining your life."

"Don't worry Lily, honestly," Angel tried to say. But Lily just wouldn't listen. She was already fast asleep.

--Breakfast:--

Lily refused to say anything to Angel. She was afraid she had hurt her friend and she didn't want to hurt her even more, no matter how much Angel said otherwise. Lily admired her friend for being so strong. Lily would've been so upset at her friend, they wouldn't be friends much longer. But Angel wasn't like that.

James saw that Lily wasn't talking to Angel and wondered what was going on. Did they have a fight? James knew it wasn't any of his business, but he couldn't stop his curiosity.

Angel gave up trying to talk to Lily and went to see James. This made Lily even more upset. Why was Angel going away? But Angel went over there, grabbed James' arm and dragged him back to Lily.

"Get her to talk to me James!" Angel cried desperately.

"What can I do?" James asked.

"She won't talk to me!"

"I understood _that_ much."

"Get her to talk to me!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Get her to talk to me!"

"How?"

"Get her to talk to me!"

"Arrgh. Never mind."

"Just get her to talk to me!"

Lily didn't know what to do. She wasn't going to ruin anything for Angel.

And that's what she did. For a whole entire week, Lily avoided the pair of them. She woke up earlier than Angel, and fell asleep after Angel did. She stuck to the library and kept a strict lookout for her. She was only able to keep this up for a week anyway.

One day, Angel cornered her and tied her to an armchair in the Gryffindor common room. "If this is what it takes for me to be able to talk to you, then so be it."

"You sound like a movie," Lily commented, trying to wrench her arms out of the rope. "Besides, there's nothing to talk about. I. Don't. Like. James."

"Oh yes you do."

"No I don't."

"DENIAL!"

"NO!" Lily shouted. It felt like she was in court or something. Like one of those cartoons. Where if you're guilty, you get sent down under.

This obviously attracted an audience. Sirius was clapping and James was looking blank. "Hey Godsend!" Sirius called. No one knew who he was talking to, except Angel, that is.

"It's ANGEL!" Angel replied.

"Yeah, whatever Heaven send. Just let that poor Lily-flower go. Look at how she's suffering…"

"YOU WANNA KNOW SUFFERING?" Angel threatened.

"No," Sirius cowered. He used James as a shield. "SAVE ME PRONGS OL' PAL!"

"ANYWAY!" Angel turned back to Lily.

"Where'd he get Godsend?" Lily whispered curiously.

"I'll, er…tell you later," Angel muttered. "But for right now…meet me in the girls' dormitory. I have something to tell you that, er…doesn't concern James."

Lily was really curious now.

--Girls Dormitory:--

Lily nudged Angel. "What were you gonna tell me? About Godsend?"

"It was what he used to call me, you know, when we were going out," Angel explained slowly.

"Oh, I understand why it was awkward," Lily said. "It was a term he used when _you two_ were going out. But now you're going out with James, and it's odd."

"Yeah, but…Lils…"

"Talk to me."

"I…guess…well…" Angel hesitated. "I…I don't know how to say this…but…I like Sirius. This whole year, I've liked Sirius."

"What whole year? We've only been here a week," Lily informed her.

"I mean, I was even hesitant to go out with James, but I guess I didn't know whether Sirius would like me or not."

"Oh don't worry about that…" Lily comforted. "I'll bet Sirius is wishing he never broke up with you."

--Boys Dormitory--

James asked, "Sirius, how come you called Angel Godsend? Didn't you only do that when you were dating?"

"Err…Prongs…" Peter said. (A/N: I REALLY DISLIKE THAT IMBICILE (Peter)! But since he wasn't bad right now…I'll give him proper lines and maybe even make him smart (only a little)!) "I wouldn't—"

"Sirius, just don't push it, alright?" James cut in. "Angel and I are dating now, and don't think you can just take her away like that. Don't be selfish."

"It was a joke, James," Sirius hastily told him. "I just wanted to annoy Angel! Honest!"

"Oh, okay then. Have fun _annoying my girlfriend!_"

"What the he, James!" Sirius yelled. "I don't have anything against you or your girlfriend! Why would I do that to you? You're my _best friend! _Best friends don't do that to each other!"

James sincerely felt bad. "Sorry, Padfoot, I guess I was just jealous, and I let jealousy take control."

"'S'okay Prongs." Sirius jumped back to his usual attitude. "So, full moon day after tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Remus said. "First full moon of the year. Are we doing anything special?"

James pulled out the Marauders Map. "Yeah. It has to be special. This is the first full moon of our last year. Padfoot? Moony? Wormtail? Any ideas?…"

--Breakfast:--

Lily couldn't help noticing that the Marauders had really nasty grins on their faces. Of course, Lily, being a victim of the Marauders more than once, was frightened. But she really didn't want to put up with the Marauders at this moment. She was rather hungry. Hash browns, waffles, pancakes, porridge, pumpkin juice, and milk still hadn't done anything about her hunger.

She looked at James. He looked more handsome than ever, (probably because he wasn't really wearing that evil grin like Sirius was), but he seemed even more…well, Lily couldn't explain it. She knew that she had actually begun liking him, but she wasn't going to let it get any farther. James had Angel, and that was all there was to it. Lily wasn't going to compete with her best friend, especially for a guy that she hated for six years.

Lily felt horrible. She was always being selfish. Especially with Angel. Angel was so nice, it was rather easy to take advantage of her. And Lily thought that was what she was doing. Angel said quietly, "Lily, it's okay. I see you. You can't take your eyes off him. Just go ahead."

"No, Ange. I can't," Lily looked down. "Hey Angie…" (A/N: Sometimes, when Lils feels like it, she's gonna call Angel different names. Ex: Ange, Angie, Ann, Lise, Lisa, etc.)

"Call me ANGEL," Angel replied.

"Well…I…Angel, er…I think he's forgotten all about me."

"He broke up with me."

"I know. Wait, _WHAT_?!"

"Well, I broke up with him actually. He didn't seem to really care…so…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"No, he wasn't really paying attention to me anyway. He got a new girlfriend," Angel explained.

"Who?" Lily asked, a bit too quickly.

"Er—"

"You know, Angel, I think James has forgotten all about me. He hasn't given me a single glance since the first couple days of school."

"To think. It's only been a week and already we are having troubles." Angel shook her head. "What are our lives coming to? We're only seventeen and we're already dating."

"Well, this is the time of entry into our adult lives," Lily giggled. "After Hogwarts, we are officially not kids anymore."

"Why, that's horrid!" Angel pretended to be extremely upset. "They can't take me away from my childhood, they just **_CAN'T_**!" The whole Great Hall went quiet. Professor Dumbledore looked highly amused.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Angel told her. "I was a bit hyper." The noise abruptly began again. Lily giggled.

Boys End of the Table:

"MOONY! Pass the ketchup!" Sirius wailed.

"What for? Your bagel?" Remus replied, not taking his eyes off from his book.

"_MOONY!_ If you must know, YES it's for the bagel!"

"Yuck, why would you eat ketchup with a bagel?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"**_MOONY!_**"

"Just give him the ketchup, Moony, if only to shut him up," James interrupted as Remus was about to retort.

"Pete, give me the ketchup so I can give it to Padfoot," Remus said to Peter.

Peter turned to James. "Prongs, I need ketchup to give to Moony to give to Padfoot."

James turned to Angel. "Angie, could I have ketchup to give to Peter to give to Moony to give to Padfoot?"

"Moony? Padfoot?" Angel asked. "Why don't you have a nickname for Peter?"

"He doesn't need one." ("HEY! I do too have one! You just don't use it! It's—" he got cut off by someone shoving a cookie in his mouth.)

"Er…" Angel turned to Lily. "Lils, hand me the ketchup to give to James to give to Pete to give to Remus to give to Sirius."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Okay…" Lily turned to Riley Simmers, a Gryffindor sixth year, who had a huge attitude problem. "Riles, could you hand me that ketchup you're using when you're done so I can give it to Angel to give to James to give to Peter to give to Remus to give to Sirius?"

"It's Rile-_Y_ and what's it to _you_ if I've got the ketchup?" Riley stuck her jaw out.

"Absolutely nothing, _Sirius_ wants—" Lily tried to say.

"Exactly. _You_ don't need the ketchup, now just go away, I don't need you bothering me anymore," Riley rolled her eyes and continued spraying the ketchup onto her plate. It was now so full of ketchup that it seemed Riley was just continuing on purpose.

"RILEY SIMMERS, THE HEAD GIRL SAYS YOU GIVE HER THAT KETCHUP BOTTLE OR SHE'LL HEX YOU THROUGH TOMORROW!" Lily yelled. Riley's eyes narrowed.

"Was that a threat?" she challenged.

"Oh, of course not," said Lily lightly. "I was just trying to scare you. To think, a Head Girl against a measly sixth year? You wouldn't even stand a chance. That's why I wouldn't call it fair for me to threaten you like that."

"I can't believe you just called me a 'measly sixth year'! I can deal with _anything!_"

"That's okay Riley," Lily told her. "You don't need to pretend to be tough. I know you wouldn't be able to."

Riley and Lily stood up and Riley thrust the ketchup into Lily's hands, glaring at Lily. "Take your ketchup! But I expect to see you out on the Quidditch Pitch TONIGHT, at _midnight!_ And come alone! See if you're so tough without your little friends!" With that, Riley strode out of the Great Hall.

Lily sat down to see Angel's eyebrows go up. "What?" asked Lily. "I got the ketchup didn't I?"

Angel slowly and carefully pried the ketchup from Lily's hand and without taking her eyes off Lily, as if she expected Lily to jinx her at any second, and she handed the ketchup to James.

James handed it to Pete who handed it to Remus, who handed it to Sirius. "Here you go Padfoot."

Sirius took one look at the ketchup bottle and said, "OH! A _gift?_ For _me?_ How _thoughtful_ of you!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, Sirius, I can't believe you made us go through all that trouble for ketchup!"

"Yeah!" James added. "And you didn't really expect it in the first place, did you?!"

"No," Sirius told James, looking at him as if he was crazy. "Why would you think that?"

--That night in the Girls Dormitory:--

"How'm I supposed to get out to the Quidditch Pitch without teachers seeing?" Lily asked worriedly.

"Oh, jeez, Lils, you seriously aren't gonna really meet that Riley freak are you?" Angel asked. "She's just a punk with an attitude problem. You don't need to have anything to do with her."

"Oh, I know. But—"

"Okay, Lils, if you really want to, I we'll find a way."

"But I didn't say—"

"Now enough talk, let's go down and enjoy the boys' presence," Angel sniffed the air around her. Lily looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Err…Angelise Alexxa Vanessa Marle I seriously think you've lost it," Lily informed her.

"Whatever Lils," said Angel, waving it off.

--Common Room:--

"LILY!" Sirius yelled as soon as Lily walked down the stairs. "_LILY!_"

"What do you want Sirius?" Lily asked. Sirius ran up to her before she could say or do anything and squeezed the living daylights out of her. James, Remus and Peter looked on with amusement.

"James, I've got a question," rasped Lily, trying to get all the air back into her lungs. "I need to get down to the Quidditch field tonight at midnight but how do I get there without the teachers seeing?"

"Oh, simple. An easy task," James replied. "Easy for a Marauder. You can be in on our secrets for a day, I suppose…but you must let me come along."

"But Riley said—" Lily began, but James cut her off.

"Riley? Riley _Simmers_?" James asked.

"Yeah," said Lily carefully. She noted how cute James looked when he frowned.

"What do you want with her?" he asked.

"Well, she asked me to meet her on the Quidditch pitch at midnight. Probably for a duel or something," Lily shrugged.

"Err…Lily. I don't think you should go through with this—"

"Nonsense! I can take whatever she throws at me. And throw something even worse back!" Lily told him.

"That's what I'm afraid of," James mumbled. Lily didn't catch that. "I've got something that er…might be useful."

James ran upstairs with Lily at his heels.

--Boys Dorm:--

"What have you got that's so useful?" Lily asked curiously.

"That's for me to know, Lils, and you to find out in just a second…" James reached into his bag and pulled out a silvery cloak.

Lily's eyes got wide. "That's an Invisibility Cloak!"

"Yeah."

"I heard those are really rare…!"

"Yeah. Let's go."

James and Lily hurried down to the common room. "We're going," James told the group. He hid himself and Lily under the Invisibility Cloak.

"This is awesome," Lily commented.

"Is it?" James grinned.

"Yeah. I always wondered what it felt like to walk around and not have people see you," Lily told him. She sort of liked the position they were in. In such close proximity with James. She never would have let that happen last year.

"We're totally neglecting our Head duties," James informed Lily.

"Yeah…but for some reason, I feel a bit mischievous." Lily spread an evil grin. "I can't wait to take care of Riley."

"Come on, don't do any damage to her…" James said slowly.

"Why not? She's really annoying…you know…" said Lily.

"Well, that's no reason to harm someone."

"That's what _you_ do to Snape," Lily told him. James found himself trapped.

Lily continued, "If she does any thing to me, such as threatening, I'm totally gonna teach her that she should learn never to threaten Lily Evans."

"Lily, just don't do any _real_ damage to her."

"_Why?_ You've got, like, a soft spot for her! If she threatens me, I'll teach her a lesson. If she hurts me or tries, I'll really do something to her."

"No, Lily," James looked away. "She's my girlfriend."

Lily glared at James. How could he? He was going out with all these girls that were absolutely not worth the time. Why was he doing that? If it would've helped, Lily would've slapped him, but she didn't want to.

Instead, she decided that she didn't need his help anymore. She grabbed the Invisibility Cloak off James and ran off to the Quidditch Pitch by herself. James looked really confused for a moment and then realized that he was completely visible now. He hastily ran after Lily.

--Quidditch Arena:--

Lily spotted Riley Simmers standing right in the center of the arena with her arms crossed and an evil smirk on her face.

"Decided to show up, have you?" she asked cheekily.

"Obviously," Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Well let's get to it, girls," Riley called out. Instantly, about ten or so girls ran out from random hiding places. What on earth was happening?

Lily felt herself being pinned to the ground. She struggled for a while but struggling against ten sixteen-year-olds was difficult. After about a minute, Lily just gave up and lay there. Riley walked up to her.

"So…I told you that you couldn't outsmart me," Riley laughed evilly. Lily could hardly believe she was hearing this from a fellow Gryffindor. If it was a Slytherin, she wouldn't have been surprised.

"You cheated," Lily told her. "You said to come alone."

"True, I told you that," Riley said. "But I said nothing about myself."

"Loophole."

"That's right. You know, Lily Evans, Head Girl, there's another reason you're on my hate list other than you being so stupid. You're stealing my James."

"_Your_ James? Well, I don't really care _whose_ James it is, I'm not stealing him."

"That's what they all say. And you know, I don't like that at all. So, I'm gonna do something to you, to stop you. You can't have my James."

"Was that a threat?" Lily spat.

"Of course, Lils."

"DON'T call me Lils."

"I don't care. I'm gonna finish you off." Riley pulled out her wand. Suddenly, she looked so much more frightening, approaching slowly in the moonlight, wand at the ready. Lily had the sudden urge to scream. But she knew that Riley couldn't do too much damage, her being younger than Lily…

As Riley took another step, Lily suddenly felt very scared. Riley looked like she could do a lot more damage than she was worth. Lily cringed.

Riley rested her wand under Lily's chin, right on her throat. Lily braced herself. She wished she hadn't left James there. He'd know what to do…

Suddenly, a horse jumped over Lily and landed just behind Riley. Riley whipped around and pointed her wand at the horse. As the animal got closer, Lily saw it wasn't a horse, it was a stag. A beautiful, silvery stag. It picked up Riley with its antlers and tossed her, not too far, not too painfully, but far enough to get the point across. Riley jumped to her feet, eyed the stag, rubbed her arm where she landed, snapped her fingers and ran. All ten of the other girls streaked off after her without a backwards-glance.

Lily took a deep breath. "Thanks," she said to the stag as she petted its head.

The stag bowed its head and disappeared out of the stadium. "Wait!" Lily tried to say, but the stag was already gone. Barely a second later, James stormed in.

"I never thought Riley would do something like that!" he yelled.

"Did you see that stag?" Lily asked him.

"Err…yeah. It passed me as it left. It was kinda pretty…"

"_Kinda?!_ It was beautiful! I didn't know such carefree and lovely things even existed!" Lily was amazed James didn't think so.

James rolled his eyes so that Lily couldn't see. It was actually rather funny to see Lily ramble on and on about a stag that was actually himself. He sort of wanted to tell her, but what if she let out the secret? Or told on him? So, he didn't. Instead, he covered Lily and him with his Invisibility Cloak and took her up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

--Gryffindor Common Room:--

"Had fun Lils?" Angel asked her.

"Oh, not really, no," Lily replied, "but there was one highlight of the evening…"

"Evening? It's past midnight."

"Whatever. There was…a really pretty stag. You see…" And Lily told the story of what Riley had done and how exactly the stag had saved her. Angel's lower jaw had dropped by the end.

"So this stag saved you?" she asked. When Lily nodded, she said, "Awesome."

The Marauders were eavesdropping, a talent they had mastered. Sirius heard Lily telling Angel about a stag and immediately shifted his eyes toward James, who shrugged and mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

Sirius nodded. He could hardly _not_ believe that Riley would do something like that. In fact, he had warned James not to start going out with her for that very reason. But, of course, James had considered this reason to be rather stupid, and that he doubted Riley Simmers was that sort of person, and had ignored Sirius completely. Little did he realize that Sirius was actually right about her.

Sirius disliked the fact that no one realized that he was actually smart. He shook his head to get these thoughts out of his head and focus on what they were eavesdropping on.

"Padfoot? You okay mate?" James asked.

"Fine. I just…I'm going up." Sirius swept upstairs without a noise.

Sirius lay down flat on his bed and sighed. He had tried, but not managed, to ask Angel out again. He had only been able to get out the words "Will" and "go." Angel could not make head nor tail of this and had given him a weird look and ignored him. Sirius shut his eyes. Why couldn't he do it? James managed to ask Lily out every second of the day every day last year. How come Sirius couldn't do the same thing?

James gave up trying to spy on Lily especially since the conversation turned away from stags. He pretended he just emerged from the boys dorms, yawning and Remus and Peter followed him and they occupied their corner of the common room that they always sat at.

"What happened to Sirius?" Angel asked.

"He went up," James yawned. "Probably sleeping, seeing as it _is_ past midnight…"

"Oh yeah…" Lily said. "Angel, let's go."

--Girls Dorms:--

Angel told Lily, "Sirius randomly comes up to me and mutters nonsense words. It's like he's trying to tell me something, I know it!"

"What does he say?" Lily asked curiously.

"Random words that don't make sense at all!" Angel told her. "I just don't get it! What if it's important? He says things like 'will' and 'go' and 'me' and 'you.' It's all gibberish!"

"You know what it sounds like…" Lily said slyly.

"No." Angel looked sideways at Lily.

"Oh." Lily rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you don't get it. Sirius wants to go out with you! Can't you tell, he just doesn't exactly have the courage, I guess…"

"Are you sure, Lily?" Angel asked desperately.

"No, it's just what it sounds like."

"Well, I'll be a bit more patient next time. Every time he stops, I walk away, because he doesn't need to waste my time. I'll let him talk next time."

Lily gave Angel the thumbs-up and a wide grin (that looked oddly sarcastic) and went straight to sleep.

--Breakfast:--

The Marauders were rather excited about tonight's adventure. The first of the year. Brilliant. First, they were going to all meet in the Shrieking Shack, as usual. Then they'd go gallivanting off in the Forbidden Forest, where they always go next, and then…they had nothing else planned, but for some reason, it sounded even more fun than it usually did. Remus insisted on not doing anything that wore them out (for example, going into Hogsmeade would mean that James and Sirius, being the largest of the Animagi, would have to constantly keep Remus in check because there were people living in Hogsmeade).

Lily had a hard time understanding what put such a happy smile on Remus' face that particular morning. His smile was so pleased that someone would feel a bit frightened.

James looked over at Riley, who was glaring at Lily. If looks could kill, Lily would be dead by now. James shivered. First chance he got, he'd break up with her. James had been under the impression that Riley was a good kid. Now he knew. Lily had a fair few scratches on her face. James turned back to Remus and then got up and stomped over to Riley. (A/N: not literally stomped.)

"Riley, how could you?" James demanded.

"How could I what?" Riley replied innocently. "Do you want to know something Jamie? Evans cornered me yesterday. She started punching, hitting, and kicking me!"

James was furious. First, Riley goes and does all that to Lily, and then lies about it! "Why is Lily the one with all the cuts then?" James almost yelled.

"I was only trying to defend myself!" Riley fake-cried.

"Well, I can't believe anyone could be such a liar, apart from those Slytherins. We're through," James told her angrily.

"How could you break up with me? When I'm not at fault at all!" Riley began 'sobbing.'

"I really don't care if it wasn't your fault, I don't like you anyway," James informed her. Lily thought _Good for James!_

There was a resounding slap and everyone turned toward James, who now had a red hand print on his cheek. Riley glared at him once more and swept out of the Great Hall.

Lily slid down next to James. "How's your cheek?" Lily asked, concerned.

"Perfect!" James seemed to regain his usual composure. "I finally got rid of that Riley girl! She may have a nice face, but the person inside is truly horrible…unlike you Lily. Will you go out with me?" James asked quickly.

Lily blushed as red as her hair. "I've…er…got Head Girl duties. Bye, James."

James set his elbows on the table. "She never did answer my question, Padfoot."

"She never will, will she?" Sirius replied.

---

A/N: So how was it? Review and tell me! By the way, I've finished writing this fic, and I know for a fact that it's only going to be three long chapters long. Just to tell you.


	2. Chapter Two

**Flipped**

**By: **Lost my Marbles

Thanks to all my reviewers!

**Yellowisformellow:** You were my first! Thanks!

**Laura:** Sorry about the long time. I realized that I had so many mistakes and I had to change my second chapter a lot.

**rebellious socks:** Thanks!

**starryfaerie:** Thanks! I'm actually updating now, cause you asked… Actually, I realized my chapter three was really short, so I'm in the process of adding onto it.

**Calistar Heir:** Wow, thanks! That was a really nice compliment! I'm glad you found this story too…

**beyonce-85:** You gave me a nice, short, and sweet comment. 'nice continue please' Thanks!

**Erkith:** You have no idea how many times my friends tell me that…

**no name to speak of:** Thanks for the support!

**EmeraldxxEyes:** Here you go! Thanks for reviewing!

I'm going to go around and read all you guys' stories, because I bet they're really good! Well, here's chapter two…Enjoy!

P.S. I really like this chapter.

**Chapter Two**

(A/N-- This chapter will have a Quidditch scene.)

Lily woke up smiling on Wednesday of the second week of school. She opened the curtains wide for everybody in the dorm. They all groaned. "Lily!" She just grinned at them.

She had absolutely no idea why she was in such high spirits.

"Angel, I've had an idea!" Lily announced as soon as Angel stepped out of bed.

"What?" Angel asked groggily.

"Let's pay a visit to the boys!"

Boys Dorms--

James woke up by Sirius throwing a pillow on his head. (Sound familiar?)

"Ow! Padfoot!"

Sirius grinned evilly. "I've got to go take a shower. I threw the pillow just to make sure that you wouldn't get up before me and use up all the shampoo."

"How, by waking me up?" James asked.

"Yeah!"

"Padfoot, that doesn't make any sense."

"Well, senseless is my other middle name!" Sirius announced.

"I thought you said your middle name was Immature," said James.

"That's why I said Senseless is my _other_ middle name, dungbrain!" said Sirius, racing to the bathroom.

James realized that he had been beaten, and decided to resolve to just banging on the door, demanding for Sirius to open up. "SIRIUS! OPEN THE DOOR! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!"

He could just see Sirius smirking on the other side of the door. "Nuh-_uh!_ I _won't_ open up. I'm gonna use up all the coconut shampoo! See how _you_ like it!"

"Fine," James grinned. "I'll just have to use my unopened shampoo then."

He could practically see Sirius' eyes widening. "You have…new shampoo? What smell?"

"Not saying!"

"Prongsie!" Sirius wailed.

"Nope!" James grinned even more evilly. "Actually, on second thought, I'll tell you. My shampoo smells like…"

James could almost hear Sirius saying, "Not vanilla, not vanilla, anything but vanilla…"

But it turned out James' shampoo was, "Vanilla!"

"_NO!_ I'll never let you use the bathroom again!" Sirius screamed. "Fine, maybe I will. Fine, I will. In five minutes…that is, if you promise you'll let me use your vanilla shampoo! Girls _love_ vanilla!"

"Well, how about the body wash?" James smirked. He had the upper hand now.

"I'm gonna use that up!"

"I've got new body wash too. In some scent that smells really good!" James grinned. (A/N-- Now you have to picture a scent that you've smelled before but you aren't exactly sure what it is, and it smells really good. That's what James' body wash smells like.)

"Oh Jamesie!" Sirius wailed. "You're gonna get _so_ many more girls than me this year! Don't you feel even the slightest bit sad for me?"

"No," James replied. "First of all, you should've brought your own shampoos and body washes, from my house, that is, and two, the only girl I want is Lily Evans."

"Oh, so you still like her?" Sirius asked.

"I—"

"Excuse me, Prongs," Remus interrupted. "May I ask why you and Padfoot are having this conversation while he is in the bathroom?"

"Uh—why are we Sirius?" James asked.

"Because I'm going to use up all the coconut shampoo!" Sirius said gleefully. "And the chocolate body wash!"

Peter sighed. "I didn't know we had chocolate body wash."

"Well, Pete," Sirius said from inside the bathroom, "that's because I've kept it secret. You all know that coconut and chocolate go very well together!"

"Um…excuse me!" a soft female voice cut in. James, Remus, Peter all turned around. _Lily!_ It wasn't just Lily, it was Angel too.

"Hey!" Sirius demanded, stepping out of the bathroom, finally. "Why so quiet all of a sudd—" He stopped at the sight of the two girls and rushed back into the bathroom, because he had been dressed in nothing but a towel.

Angel giggled.

"We just came to see how you were doing," Lily said. James dived under his sheets to hide his boxers.

"Well, why in the morning?" he asked. "Why not when we were more…decent?"

"We'll shut our eyes if you ask!" Angel told him.

"Shut your eyes then!" James said. "And you! Padfoot! Take your shower!"

"Aye, aye Prongsie!" was the reply from the bathroom.

James managed to put on his pants and a clean shirt before stepping out of his bed. "You can turn around now!"

Lily and Angel whipped around. "So…what's been going on in here?" Lily asked. "We heard some sort of chaos from down in the Common Room…"

"Sirius has gotten into one of his fits about the shampoo," James explained.

"I DID NOT!"

James smirked. "See?"

"What for?" Angel asked curiously.

"Well, apparently, he wanted to use up all the coconut shampoo today and—"

"He uses coconut shampoo?" Angel asked. "So do I!"

"Anyway, I told him I have _new_ shampoo and _new_ body wash, and he got all 'upset'."

"Is that it?" Lily asked, smiling. "So what flavor is this nice _new_ shampoo and body wash?"

"You'll see as soon as Sirius gets out of the shower. Now get down to breakfast and we'll meet you there, won't we Moony? Pete?" James nodded to them.

"Prongs! How many times do I have to tell you? Call me _W_—"

"Sure, Prongs," Remus said, ignoring the fact that Peter was talking.

"So what is Pete's nickname anyway?" Angel asked.

Peter seemed delighted to explain. "It's W—"

"Wormtail," Remus told her.

Angel scrunched up her nose. "_Wormtail?_"

"_AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT EXACTLY?_" Peter demanded.

"Well, nothing!" Angel lied. "Well, I guess it's time for _breakfast!_ Come on, Lily."

Lily and Angel exited the boys' dorms and stayed in the common room. About a half an hour later, the Marauders showed up.

"I want to smell your hair!" Lily announced to all of them.

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"It's a conversation that you missed, Sirius," Angel explained.

"Smell mine first!" he said as he leaned over so Lily could reach. She sniffed.

"Ahhh…" she almost swooned. "It's…coconut and chocolate. Those two go really well together, you know?"

James frowned. "Try me!"

"_Jamesie!_ Lily almost fell on top of me, because I smelled so good!" Sirius cackled.

James stared at him.

"Lean down, James!" Lily tapped him. He leaned. Lily ruffled his hair a little bit and smelled.

"Lilac and vanilla!" Lily sighed. "Absolutely amazing."

"Lily didn't fall on top of you! Lily didn't fall on top of you!" Sirius chanted. "Ha ha! She almost fell on top of me! Ha ha! She almost fell on top of—"

Lily cut him off by fake-swooning into James' arms. James stuck his tongue out at Sirius. "Nyah! Yeah, she did!"

Sirius stuck his tongue out back at James. "So? She's _your_ girlfriend!"

"I am _not_ his girlfriend!" Lily protested, pushing James so she could get up.

"Well, almost," Sirius told her.

"_No!_"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah!"

"No!"

"Yep!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Me? _His_ girlfriend?"

"Yeah! You!"

Lily gave a small laugh. "HA! What a joke. And a nasty one too!"

Sirius winked and dragged James out of the portrait hole.

Outside the portrait hole--

"She's so yours, Prongs," said Sirius, grinning. "I can tell."

"Oh no she's not!" James protested. "You can just see she's just as fed up with me as she was last year. Besides, I told you! I'm not going after her anymore."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Sure…just upstairs you said 'the only girl I want is Lily'."

"So? I was just saying that. I don't like her anymore. I'm serious!"

Sirius gasped. "I thought _I _was Sirius!"

"Padfoot!"

Sirius snickered. "I can't believe you're so blind. It's obvious she has something for you…"

James ran a hand through his hair. "She does? I mean, no she doesn't!"

Sirius snickered again.

James grinned evilly. "Well, I know who _does_ have a thing for you…"

"Who?" said Sirius quickly.

"A certain…Angelise Marle…" James grinned even wider.

"What're you grinning like an idiot for?" demanded Sirius.

"I'm grinning at someone who just can't seem to ask a girl out," said James smartly.

"I can too!" said Sirius. "And I'll prove it to you! Tonight! No, tomor—no, how about next year, I'll ask her out?"

"Padfoot," said James. "We're not even going to be in Hogwarts next year."

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"I, Mr. Prongs, am going to see to it that Miss Angel will go out with Mr. Padfoot."

"Is that so?" said Sirius. "Well, I, Mr. Padfoot, will see to it that our special little Lily-flower will go out with Mr. Prongs. Have we gotten ourselves a deal here?"

"A wonderful one," said James. And they shook hands on it.

Breakfast in the Great Hall--

"What was that upstairs?" Angel asked.

"I, er, just wanted to smell them," said Lily.

"Oh sure," said Angel, rolling her eyes.

"Really! That's it! Why? What ever else _would_ there be?"

"You weren't just trying to get James to actually notice you? Or were you just flirting?" smirked Angel.

Lily flushed. "No, I wasn't flirting! And besides, he already _does_ notice me. I just need him to notice that he notices me."

Angel sighed. "Jeez, Lils."

"It's all very complicated," said Lily.

"What's so complicated about it?" asked Angel. "You like James. You're trying to get him to notice you. He obviously likes you, but he's doing a fantastic job of hiding it."

Lily stared. "_That's_ what you think?"

"That's what I _know_," said Angel. "I happen to know that James is going crazy for you. And you are going crazy for him."

"No I am not!" said Lily indignantly. "But I _do_ know…"

Angel's eyes widened. "What?" she asked quickly. "What do you know?"

Lily grinned. "Well, I happen to know that a certain someone has a _huge_ thing for a certain Mr. Black?"

"Well, that someone just can't be me, can it?" said Angel smartly.

"Actually, it is," said Lily. "I happen to know that you are practically in love with him."

"If that's true, then you're practically in love with James!" huffed Angel.

"Fine, you're right. I do have a teensy crush on him," said Lily. Angel started laughing uncontrollably. "I said teensy!"

Angel grinned. "It's okay, Lils, we all know your secret…"

"What do you mean 'we all'?" asked Lily quickly. "You…you didn't tell anyone, did you?"

"No, I just was saying that to tease you…"

"Oh, okay then."

Just then, the Marauders came marching into the Great Hall. All four of them, laughing like best friends should do. They seated themselves directly in the center of the Gryffindor table, where they usually sat. Everyone reserved the Marauders' seats.

Lily and Angel watched as they talked and laughed and whispered and sent smirks over to the Slytherin table at Severus Snape.

Lily sighed. "They're the bestest friends I've ever seen."

"_Bestes_t?" asked Angel, raising an eyebrow at the improper grammar. "Well, I guess you're right. They are. They do everything together, they are totally loyal to each other, they never get in fights, they may be a bit on the pranking side, but all in good fun, right?"

Lily smiled. "I wonder what it would be like if I was part of a group like the Marauders…"

"You have me, Lils," said Angel.

"Oh I know! I'll always have you! You'll always be my best friend!" said Lily. "It's just…I guess I'm jealous that they are such good friends, like all the reasons you listed…"

"I know what you mean."

Lily nodded with a small smile and then quietly went back to drinking her pumpkin juice.

Other end of the table--

"Prongs, it's been _ages_ since we've pulled a prank on Snivellus!" Sirius whined.

"I know it has, hasn't it?" said James.

"Why haven't we been pulling pranks on Snivellus?" Sirius demanded.

"I'm over pranks, Padfoot. Abby told me to mature a little, so I'm maturing. Mature pranksters don't pull pranks," explained James.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "_Right_. You probably aren't aware of how weird that sounded. Anyhow, speaking of our dear little Abagail, what ever happened to her?"

"She's probably off with some boyfri—" James gasped. "_Boyfriend!_ I wanna see what snotrag is going out with my little sister!" James got up out of his seat and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"That's what you call overprotective," muttered Sirius. "It makes no sense. She probably isn't even with a guy anyway!"

"Where's he going?" asked Remus.

"He's off to find Abby," said Sirius. "Wanna come?"

"Sure!" Remus and Sirius followed him.

"Hey wait for me!" Peter ran after them.

Back to Lily and Angel--

"Where are _they_ going?" asked Angel.

"I don't know, but I think we should follow, don't you?" said Lily. "I mean, it's not everyday you see the Marauders actually abandoning their food…"

"Too true."

Lily and Angel grabbed a piece of toast and raced out after the Marauders.

James--

James didn't have to look far to find Abby. She was passionately kissing a certain Toby Arnold from Hufflepuff. James looked livid. Toby wasn't the trusty type.

"ABBY, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" James roared.

"That's what you call overprotective," Sirius muttered again.

"Padfoot, you already said that," Remus told him.

"Oh."

Both Abby and Toby were scared. "James, what did he do?" Abby asked carefully.

"He went out with you! _Without permission!_" James yelled.

"What?—" Now Abby looked livid. "I CAN CHOOSE MY OWN BOYFRIENDS! WITHOUT YOUR HELP!"

"Yes, you can," said James. "Except I need to know who they are, so I can tell you if they can be trusted or not! Abby, I've got more experience!"

"What are you _talking_ about?" shouted Abby. "Toby can definitely be trusted, right guys?" she added, looking at Sirius, Remus and Dung. They shifted their feet. "Toby?"

Lily and Angel suddenly appeared. "What's going on?"

James was glaring at Abby. Abby was wide-eyed at Toby. Toby, Sirius, and Remus were shifting their feet guiltily.

"Toby, are you saying that you can't be trusted?" Abby questioned.

"Well…"

"Well, what?"

"No, I can't," Toby confessed.

"What do you mean?" Abby looked frightened.

"I…I went out with you on…on a dare."

Abby's eyes widened and filled with tears. "Is…is that true?"

"Yes," Toby looked at his feet.

Abby held back her tears and narrowed her eyes. "Well, then. You can just tell your friends that I broke up with you." Abby stormed off.

James glared at Toby as he went off after his sister.

Lily and Angel stared at the scene and followed James.

Sirius and Remus shrugged and followed everybody.

Peter, who had been exceptionally quiet, went back to the Great Hall to finish his breakfast.

Abby--

Abby was in a particularly bad mood. James could be so inconsiderate sometimes. Okay, so Toby wasn't exactly the most trustworthy of boyfriends. But James didn't have to go and make a huge scene in front of everybody!

She seated herself next to the lake, and watched the giant squid make its usual rounds for food. Suddenly, James (the idiot himself) burst outside.

"ABBY!"

Abby rolled her eyes and stormed away from him. Sirius and Remus were suddenly by his side. Then came Lily and Angel. Ahh. Just the girls she decided she wanted to talk to. Abby made her way just around James, Sirius, and Remus to talk to Lily and Angel.

"Can I talk to you two?" Abby asked.

"Sure!" said Lily.

"Why not?" added Angel.

James stared openmouthed. Abby cast a triumphant look his way and followed Lily and Angel back up to the Gryffindor tower.

James--

James didn't understand why Abby didn't want to talk to him. He was her brother after all.

"Prongs, how come you blew up at her like that?" Sirius asked.

"She can't just go out with people. We all knew that Toby Arnold wasn't to be trusted," said James. "If she asked me, I could've told her that. And we'd've all been saved the trouble."

"But Prongs," said Remus reasonably, "I don't think blowing up at your sister was going to get you anywhere…"

"I get it now," said James, irritated. "But why did she want to talk to Lily and Angel…and not me?"

"Well, they're _girls_," said Remus.

"Girls are comfortable discussing stuff together," supplied Sirius. "It's the way they were built."

"Well," said James. "I guess I'm fine as long as she sorts out her problems in whatever way she can."

The Seventh Year Girls Dorm--

"So," said Angel. "What's your problem, er, what's your name again?"

"Abagail," Abby said, "but I prefer Abby, if you don't mind."

"Abby," said Lily. "Nice name."

"Well, my problem, I guess, is James," said Abby quietly.

"He's everybody's problem," muttered Lily.

"Yeah, I know," said Angel.

"How come?" asked Abby.

"Long story," said Lily impatiently. "Anyway, back to you."

"He's so overprotective!" Abby complained. "He thinks he's the world's nicest big brother, to scare off all my boyfriends! It's not fair! And do you know how many girlfriends _he's_ had? Plenty more than _I_ have! And _still _he thinks that all the guys I date are terrible!"

Abby took a deep breath and continued her rant. "Okay, I admit, so Toby was a bit shady, but that doesn't mean everyone is! I mean, there's this one guy, Jason Kinderson, he's really nice, and he's in Ravenclaw. But I know that James is going to find _something_ wrong with him! And I thought I could talk to you two because you have more experience."

Lily stared. "So what's the problem again?"

Abby sighed. "He's so overprotective! He thinks he's the world's nicest big brother, to scare off all of my—"

"Okay, okay, we got it!" said Angel hurriedly. "So what exactly did you want to talk to us for?"

Abby looked thoughtful. "Well, I sort of thought that you know, you and Lily hadn't exactly been the best of friends with James, and I thought you'd know how I feel…"

"That's for sure," muttered Lily. "Did we help?"

"Yeah, actually, it was really nice to get that off my chest," said Abby. "Oh, I've gotta go." And with that, she rushed out of the dormitory.

Angel asked, "How come she had to leave so soon?"

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," said Lily, totally ignoring Angel, and tapping her foot on her bed. "Something…that I need to do…"

"Er…"

"OH I KNOW!" Lily yelled suddenly. "I need to get James to practice Chaser with me. Or Seeker or whatever it was that I'm gonna try out for."

"Right, you said that you wanted to try out for the Quidditch team."

"I should go ask James if he'd practice with me," Lily said, and she rushed out of the dormitory.

"That's funny," said Angel to herself. "Here we are all talking about how James is the bad guy, and suddenly Lily wants to go play Chaser with him. Odd, isn't it."

Boys Dorms--

The Marauders were on the floor, planning their next big prank on Snivellus when they heard some banging on the door.

"JAMES!"

It was a female voice. "Quick! Hide the plans!" James told them. They stuffed them under his bed.

"Come IN!" James yelled.

Lily walked in. "You told me that you wanted me to try out for the Quidditch team. But I need practice. Will you practice with me?"

"Er…um…"

"I'll do it!" said Sirius excitedly. "I'll practice Chaser with you! I'm Keeper. This'll all work!"

"Er, sure, Sirius," said Lily. "C'mon!"

Sirius grabbed his broom and James' broom and him and Lily walked out.

Quidditch field--

(A/N-- Sorry to interrupt, but…right now I've kind of gotten writers block, so bear with me if it's gotten boring. Believe me, I will NOT stand for it. It will be better soon. Pity that it has to be at a Quidditch scene! Well, enjoy anyway.)

Lily climbed easily onto James' broomstick and she watched Sirius climb onto his. Then she remembered back in the boys dorms. Why didn't James want to come practice with her? Hmph.

"Sirius, how come James didn't want to practice Quidditch?" she asked, hoping she sounded like she didn't care too much.

Sirius looked at her. "Don't tell him I told you, but we were kind of in the middle of planning a big prank."

"On who?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Snivellus, of course!" Sirius told her.

"_He still picks on him?_"

"Yeah, why wouldn't—_oh._" Sirius looked like he just mentally slapped himself. "Whoopsie."

"What do you mean 'whoopsie'?" Lily rounded on him. "After that whole OWLs thing, he hasn't learnt _anything!_"

"Well, you _know_, he—"

"And you! You don't do anything to stop him! So even _you_ haven't learnt anything about not picking on people that aren't worth it!"

"Lily, we all—"

Lily's face became all red and Sirius was afraid she'd burst out in blisters. When she next spoke, her voice was all raspy. "You, grr, _Marauders_, snort, are the dumbest, most," –Lily made a violent movement in midair— "rudest, most—RRAAAHH!—you insolent—stupid—GRRRR!"

Sirius was curious. "Why do you get so worked up over Snivellus?"

Lily lunged at him, forgetting she was sitting on a broom. Sirius flew upwards so fast, he was a blur. He watched her from above.

Lily tripped over the broom and began cursing James.

At least she didn't burst out in blisters…

(A/N-- Do you agree with me? That was dumb wasn't it… Don't worry, that's not all.)

(A/N-- I don't mean dumb stuff. I mean that's not all with Lily and Sirius and Chaser practice.)

Boys Dorms--

"I wonder what Lily and Sirius are doing…" said James suspiciously.

"Prongs, they wouldn't be doing anything you'd be upset about…" Remus told him. "Sirius is your best friend. He would do anything…"

"Oh I know," James told him. "I just want to know if Lily wants to be Seeker or Chaser."

"Uh huh."

"Really! And d'you want to know something? I think Sirius should've been Quidditch captain."

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," James said thought fully. "He's a lot more patient, he's a born leader, he's got much more imagination, he's really nice to everyone, he's got a great sense of humor… There're plenty of reasons why Padfoot's a lot better than me."

"Prongs, there was probably a perfectly valid reason why Padfoot wasn't made Quidditch captain and you were," said Remus reasonably.

"And what might you say _that_ would be?"

"Well..." Remus paused. "That's for Dumbledore to know. It's not up to me what information he decides to share with you."

Outside--

Lily sighed. "Okay, Sirius, let's get back to Quidditch practice. Don't tell me _anything else_ that'll get my temper up."

Sirius flinched. "Right. First, how about we practice with a game of _catch?_"

"Catch?" asked Lily. "As in catch the Quaffle?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you sure? Isn't that a bit childish?"

"Well, maybe, but it's essential if you want to be a good Chaser…"

"You do have a point there, Sirius."

Sirius kicked open the trunk with all the balls in there and picked up the Quaffle. Then he mounted his broom, watched Lily do the same, and passed the Quaffle to her. She almost missed it, but she caught it with the tips of her fingers.

"You know, I thought catch would be _easy!_" Lily told him.

Sirius just grinned. Lily and Sirius played a really rough game of catch. They flew all around the stadium and threw the ball to each other. After a while, Lily got so good at it, she felt that she would be able to catch the ball with her eyes shut. (Not that she tried and succeeded or anything…)

"You're a really good teacher, Siri!" Lily panted when she and Sirius finally touched down to the ground.

"Thanks! And DON'T call me 'Siri'!"

"Well, are we going to continue with doing more today?" Lily asked.

Sirius shrugged. "It depends on if you're up to it. I am, certainly."

"Okay, let's do more!" Lily told him, mounting her broom again. She flew up about fifty feet above the ground and yelled back down to him, "COME ON!"

Sirius grinned and flew up to join her. "Okay, now we're going to shoot some goals. We'll pass to each other and we can work on your aim."

"But won't it be easy without the Keeper there?" asked Lily.

"You'll see…"

Sirius tossed Lily the Quaffle and they flew over to the goal posts, passing to each other along the way. Lily threw the Quaffle to the goal post and…she missed the ring.

She paused. "You're right, it isn't as easy as it sounds."

"You'll get the hang of it eventually," Sirius said.

"Do you know how to Beater, Chaser, Seeker, _and_ Keeper?"

"Yeah," Sirius said modestly.

"How?"

"I practice…"

"_Why?_"

"Because I like to."

"But _why?_" Lily pressed on.

Sirius sighed. "Because I wanted to be Quidditch captain. And so if I _was_ Quidditch captain, it would help to know every part."

"But James became captain…"

"I know. I was ever so happy for him. It's okay that I'm not captain because Prongs is better than me in every aspect."

"Not in Quidditch…"

"_Only_ in Quidditch," Sirius grinned. "Just kidding. I think he's a great captain, because he _is!_"

Lily grinned too. "So, after practicing goals, then what are we going to do?"

"Then I thought we'd fly around with the Bludgers so you'd practice dodging, and then I thought I'd play Keeper and you'd practice shooting the balls around the Keeper."

"Okay, then what?"

"Well, then I thought we'd see what you needed to work on…"

"Oh okay."

Sirius and Lily practiced shooting goals and then they flew down to the ground. Both of them had worked very hard that day.

"That was _really_ fun!" Lily told him excitedly. "Let's practice more tomorrow, I'm all wiped out."

"Yeah," agreed Sirius, just as excitedly. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Ooh, a knot!" He pulled out a comb and combed his hair through. "That's _much_ better."

"So…tomorrow, same time?" Lily asked, giggling.

"Yep!"

Sirius and Lily made their way up to the Gryffindor tower.

Girls Dorms--

"Sirius is SUCH an awesome _teacher!_" Lily excitedly told an equally excited Angel. "I think I'll be a great Chaser by the time Sirius is done teaching me!"

"So you're meeting him tomorrow too?" Angel asked.

"Yeah."

"Ah."

Boys Dorms--  
"What did you do?" James demanded the second Sirius walked in.

"Well, first we practiced passing to each other, and then we—"

"I didn't mean like that, I meant…you know…!"

"No, actually Prongs, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Did you do…_anything_ with her?"

"No, after passing, we practiced scoring," Sirius told him, having no idea to what James was trying to get at. "Tomorrow we're going to practice with the Bludgers, and then I'm going to play Keeper so she can—"

"You're meeting her again? Tomorrow?" Sirius detected some jealousy in his voice.

"Yes."

"Can I practice with her tomorrow?" James asked.

"Sure!" Sirius told him excitedly, thinking that Lily would have a great experience practicing with the Quidditch captain.

Tomorrow--

(A/N-- You know, this whole part is going to be about Lily and the Quidditch tryouts. I guess some little things are going to happen, but you know, nothing much really.)

Lily held James' broom in her hand in the common room as she sat next to Angel. The Marauders came down the stairs from the boys dorms.

"C'mon Sirius!" Lily got up.

"Um, actually Lily, Prongs is going to practice with you today…" Sirius said uncomfortably.

"That's fine right?" James asked.

"No," Lily told him. "I want Sirius to practice with me."

James scowled. "Why?"

"Well, I don't know, I just do," Lily said.

"Too bad, I'm practicing with you."

James and Lily went out to the Quidditch pitch. Lily used Sirius' broom while James used his own. James released the Bludgers. "Sirius told me that's what you were going to do today."

"Yeah," said Lily. "Hmph."

She mounted her broom with the Quaffle. She passed to James, who caught it and threw it back to her. Then she flew stationary while she threw it…a Bludger came flying and knocked her clean off her broom. James flew under her and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Potter!" Lily yelled. "Stupid Bludger!"

"Er…"

"Go get Sirius!" Lily instructed.

"Why?"

"Because I prefer him teaching me."

"How come?" said James darkly.

"Because!"

James tramped back into the school.

Common Room--

(A/N-- Lily and Sirius are becoming _good friends!_ And only good friends. Don't get the wrong idea.)

"Padfoot!" James yelled. "What on earth did you do to her?"

Sirius looked up from the Marauders Map. "What do you mean?"

"You've brainwashed her or something, she wants only _you_ to teach her!"

"Prongs, I didn't do anything…"

"I know."

"So…I've gotta go?" Sirius asked timidly.

"Yes, take my broom," James handed his broom to Sirius. "I don't know what she's doing, but if she wants to get me upset, it's certainly working."

"Heh, heh?"

"She's so…"

"I really don't want to know," Sirius told him. "I'll see you later, Prongs."

"Yeah," said James miserably.

Outside--

Lily didn't know why she didn't want James teaching her. She _did_ have a huge crush on the guy, didn't she? So what was her problem? Why did she want _Sirius_ to practice with her? She was acting like a spoiled little girl. Who cares who practiced with her? Lily felt that Sirius and her were becoming very good friends. Maybe that's why. Maybe she felt a lot more comfortable with a good friend than with a crush.

She saw someone coming. Sirius!

"Sirius!" she called. "I've got your broom!"

The figure didn't answer.

"Sirius!" she called again. "Can you hear me?"

Still no answer.

The figure came closer. She saw that it _wasn't_ Sirius, but a hooded figure in a black robe. She squinted her eyes to see him. It was a foggy night, so it was the easiest thing to do. The hooded figure came closer.

Lily's eyes widened. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously. The hooded figure did nothing, but he/she clamped their hand over her mouth and tied her hands behind her back. Lily stood stock still. What on earth was going on?

"MMPH!"

"Shut up, you little girl!" said the figure in a hoarse voice.

Lily was enraged. _No one_ talked to her like that. She bit the figure's hand. The figure screamed in pain.

"SIRIUS! JAMES! HELP!" Lily screamed. "HELP! _HELP!_"

Sirius had coaxed James into coming with him to practice. James and Sirius raced to the Quidditch field. They had been following the screams, which had become a bit more muffled.

"…_MMLP! …MMLP!_"

At the Quidditch field, they saw a sight. A hooded figure in a black robe was holding their hand over a girl (with red hair)'s mouth and holding a wand at her neck.

"Don't move!" The figure warned. He had a hoarse voice.

"It's Lily!" James hissed to Sirius.

"I know!" Sirius hissed back. "What are we going to do?"

"I…I don't know!"

Sirius stepped closer. "We don't mean any harm," he said to the figure.

"I know that you fool!" the figure yelled. "I'm only holding her prisoner like this because I don't like girls!"

"Why not?" James asked incredulously. "Especially this one! Isn't she beautiful?"

"They have cooties, you idiot!"

"Cooties?" Sirius asked.

"Yes cooties!" said the figure. "If you kiss a girl, you get cooties! It's a Muggle thing."

"Cooties?" James asked.

"Cooties," said Sirius.

"Cooties?"

"Cooties."

"Cooties?"

"Lily!" the figure said. His voice was no longer hoarse, Lily noticed. In fact, it sounded really familiar… "_Lily_!"

Lily's eyes snapped open from her really odd dream. She saw Sirius' face. "Hi, Sirius."

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked. "You were muttering in your sleep."

"I had a really crazy dream," Lily said. "C'mon let's get go—what's Potter doing here?"

James had come along to oversee the practice. Sirius had insisted. "We need the captain of the team to see what we're doing!" he had told him excitedly.

"C'mon Lily, let's get started!" said Sirius, mounting his broom. Lily impatiently snatched James' and flew up to join Sirius.

"_Prongs_, can you release the Bludgers!" Sirius called.

"I thought I already did!" was the reply.

"Wh—" Sirius was interrupted by a sudden ramming in his stomach; a Bludger had got him. "OUCH! THAT HURT!"

Lily started laughing uncontrollably until the Bludger rammed her too. "Stupid Bludger!" she screeched.

James started laughing down below. The Bludger came and knocked him as well. "Curse it!" he rasped.

Sirius and Lily passed the Quaffle to each other, carefully avoiding the Bludgers. When they got to the goal posts, Lily threw the Quaffle hard and…yes! It went through.

They did this repeatedly until Lily got very good at it, and then they decided on a break.

(A/N-- Boring? Let me know…)

(A/N-- Chapter 1 was 24 pgs long, so Chapter 2 has to also be 24 pgs long. At the moment, it's still short about 7 pgs.)

(A/N-- I never thought Quidditch could be boring, but if I continue to write the way I am right now…)

(A/N-- No more Quidditch.)

Lily lay down on her bed. "What's wrong with me?" she wondered out loud for no apparent reason at all.

"Nothing's wrong with you," a voice said. Lily nearly jumped three feet high, but then she saw it was only Angel.

"Gosh, Angel, don't do that!" Lily scolded as her pulse slowed down a little. "And what were you doing up so late at night, anyway?"

"I could ask you the same question," said Angel, raising an eyebrow.

Lily sighed. "I know you could, Angel, and the truth is that I've been out practicing Quidditch and then I took a walk. I should've told you. What're you doing up, anyway?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Oh, that's so nice of you!"

"Good night Lily."

"Good night Angel."

The Quidditch tryouts went fine, as usual, but unfortunately, Lily didn't make it onto the House Team.

Boys Dorms--

James woke up the next morning and all that he was aware of was the fact that he was the only one awake in their room. _Yes!_ He thought happily. _Finally, I'll get the bathroom before Sir—_

Sirius suddenly rushed past his bed and into the bathroom, causing a great gust of wind to hit James square on the face. _That idiot, pretending to be asleep and throwing me off completely…_

James decided to get up and whack Sirius upside the head. But in order to do that, he had to get Sirius out of the bathroom. "Sirius!" he yelled. "I need the bathroom!"

"Well, that's a pity, isn't it," Sirius sneered.

James hurried to the bathroom door and pounded on it. "Well, at least I hid my shampoo so you wouldn't be able to get at it. I lent it to Moony."

"Don't bring _me_ into it, Prongs!" said Remus irritably as he woke up hearing his name mentioned.

"So _what_ if you lent it to Moony? I got my own!" cackled Sirius.

James was horrified. "How? When? _Where?_"

"I paid a fifth year…Robert something."

"You paid a fifth year."

"Yep! And he was actually a genius! He got me a pack of _five_."

"_Five!_"

"Yeah. All different smells too!"

That was all James could take before he fainted. Well, he didn't really faint. He fell to his knees, and then flat on the floor (A/N-- I saw someone doing that after they lost a game a volleyball). But on the way down, he bumped into a bookshelf and sent it toppling on top of him, bumping into his funny bone, and the resounding crash caused Remus to sit up bolt upright in bed to see what had created the commotion.

"Prongs, what are you doing down there?" Remus snickered, not something he usually did.

"I—got—hurt—" James wheezed, clutching his elbow. "Hit—funny bone—not—funny—"

Remus only began snickering louder. Sirius burst into laughter from inside the bathroom. A couple of seconds later, the shower turned on, only to be turned off precisely on-the-dot thirty minutes later.

Breakfast, Great Hall--

Lily served herself hash browns and topped it with ketchup when the Marauders walked in. Lily almost made place for them next to her and almost told Angel to do so also, when they all sat down beside Marshmallow and her group of friends.

Marshmallow, Cream, and Sugar were rather popular, like the Marauders. They called themselves "The Sweets." Lily thought that was a stupid name.

Marshmallow's real name was Miriam Boksnick. But all the students called her Marshmallow and all the teachers called her Boksnick. She was a blonde. She was originally a brunette, but she dyed her hair blonde, and ever since then, she became an idiot. It was as if all the smarts she got from being a brunette disappeared. She had brown eyes that sparkled somehow, as if she had enchanted them, or something.

Cream was Creole Smothers. Funny name, if you asked Angel. Cream changed her hair color every week, and this week was blue. Bright blue. Her eyes were blue too. Really blue. Such a deep blue that not even Peter (who had the bluest eyes the Marauders had ever seen) could compete with. The teachers all called her Smothers. The students called her Creole, no matter how hard she tried to get them all to call her Cream.

Sugar was, from last month, Sirius's girlfriend, although you could see he was getting bored of her sometimes. (He would unexpectedly begin flirting with Creole.) Sugar's real name was Sabrina Salem. She had the blackest hair Lily had ever seen and the darkest of eyes. Sometimes, she was scary. No one knew why she called herself Sugar. But everyone knew she was perfectly capable of 'inconveniencing' you if you didn't call her that.

James and Marshmallow started having a passionate conversation that Lily was bothered about. She leaned closer to try and hear what they were saying.

"…tell anyone, did you?" Marshmallow was saying.

"No, why would you think so, Mir?" James asked.

"It's _Marshmallow_, James, and you didn't tell Evans and Marle, did you? I've seen you hang around with them a lot…"

"Tell them what?" Sirius interrupted.

"That—" Marshmallow looked around furtively, "that James and I are going out."

Lily's eyes widened at Angel, who was also listening.

"Oh I knew that!" said Sirius. "What's so secret about it?"

"Nothing," said Marshmallow simply. "I just like having a secret."

"From who?"

"The rest of the school."

Remus shook his head. "Marshmallow, sometimes I think you really are a dumb blonde."

Marshmallow's nostrils flared at Remus and Remus looked disapprovingly at her. It was obvious that Remus didn't like her very much. Lily angrily decided that Remus had that right idea about her.

"No, she's not," said James, kissing her quickly.

That burned Lily up. She collected her bag and hurried out of the Great Hall, purposely bumping into James on the way. He turned around for a moment, to see who bumped him, and saw Lily rushing away.

He turned back to Marshmallow. "Er…that was Lily."

James got up and looked around. Lily seemed to have already gone somewhere. He left the Great Hall, giving Angel a questioning look. She shrugged. Marshmallow was following him yelling, "So you're calling her 'Lily' now?"

Marshmallow followed James all the way up to the Gryffindor Common Room. (Marshmallow was a Gryffindor, herself.)

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked when James got up there.

"Er…" In his haste, James had forgotten to find out what the password was from Remus; the password had been changed the previous day.

Marshmallow caught up with him. "What's wrong, James? What's the password?"

"I…don't know…"

"That's bad," said Marshmallow in a voice that was obviously as soothing as she could make it. "Now tell me why you want to talk to this Lily. Conjure up chairs, James."

James conjured two fluffy armchairs. "Mir, do we really have to talk right now? In the middle of the hallway? Do you know how odd this looks?"

"Yes, and don't call me Mir."

"Why? Because, honestly, I don't know why I'm following her. But I suppose I have no chance of catching up with—" James suddenly had an idea. He leapt up and approached the Fat Lady again.

"What?" she said irritably.

"Did you let Lily go in there?" James asked.

"No, not Lily, no," said the Fat Lady, surprised. "I thought you were going to ask about…oh, never mind."

James gave her an odd look, but he started back to the Great Hall. Marshmallow ran after him. James had no chance of finding Lily in the whole castle, so he needed the Marauder's Map from Moony.

He was halfway back to the Great Hall when he remembered that _he_ had the Marauder's map. He pulled it out and checked it quickly before Marshmallow caught up to him; he didn't want her to see. It was a Marauder secret. He scanned it. Lily, apparently, was hiding, and she was rather hard to find. But finally, James found her; she was lurking in the Astronomy tower.

James snorted as he put the Marauders Map away. The Astronomy tower is where you're supposed to go at night. It was a romantic spot to meet with your boyfriend or girlfriend. But Lily, obviously, had no sense of such things.

He hurried there anyway.

Marshmallow arrived at the Great Hall, didn't see him, and went back to go eat.

What in the name of Merlin was Lily doing up at the Astronomy tower anyhow? What gave her the nerve to go up there? How dare she? James was thinking these nasty thoughts about Lily as he climbed up the practically never-ending stairs to the tower. Why did the Astronomy tower have to be the highest room in the castle?

What gave James the nerve to be so upset at Lily like that? That had never happened before… There had not been anything to be upset about before, though. What was different? James was really confused. What had he done anyway to get Lily angry like that? _Was_ she even angry? Was it possible that it wasn't James she was angry at?

Obviously, James had a lot going through his mind as he climbed those godforsaken stairs.

Finally, he reached the last stair, now thoroughly annoyed with Lily. But now that he was up, he couldn't just well go down without fulfilling his purpose of going up anyway, right? So, he quietly stepped into the tower and took in the whole view.

Lily was perched on the windowsill, looking down. She was swaying dangerously, as though one little push would be enough for her to drop all the way down. James decided not to startle her.

So, what could he do?

Absolutely nothing, that's what. He couldn't say anything. But if Lily turned around and saw him standing there, she would be under the impression that he was spying.

But then, Lily did something unexpected and turned around with her eyes closed. Who does that! Thought James furiously, but thanking her at the same time for doing so. She walked to the middle of the tower (or at least, what she supposed was the middle) and started talking.

"I really do like him," Lily said quietly. "I like him a lot. I wish he knew." She paused as she lowered her head, obviously focusing on her thoughts only.

"Why doesn't he like me?" she asked to nobody. James could neither make head nor tail of who on earth she was talking about. "Why doesn't he care anymore, when I care so much? What is the deal with this guy?"

James just stood, trying to make up his mind of whether he should talk or not. But Lily continued.

"Will he come up to find me now? Will he start to pay more attention to me? God, I wish I hadn't been so annoyed with him before… I wish he would talk to me again, like he did last year…"

And James understood who she was talking about…_him._ She loved him. And all at once, six years of fancying her all came back into him and he realized that he loved her too, very much. He didn't even stop to think before he slowly walked forward and captured Lily in a heartwarming kiss.

In one split-second, Lily had opened her eyes and saw she was being kissed by her dream, James Potter. All emotion came rushing into her at that moment, and she channeled it all into kissing him back passionately.

The kiss lasted almost an eternity to Lily before she pulled away slowly and smiled.

James bit his lip. "I…I didn't mean to do that…"

"I know you didn't," said Lily. "But I'm not mad at you… When did you come?"

"Not too long ago," said James sheepishly. "I was looking for you. Why did you bump me anyway?"

Lily shrugged nervously. "Jealousy?"

"Well, of course, but—"

"I felt sort of like you were betraying me," Lily continued over James. "I was…listening to you and _Miriam_ talk and I didn't really like what I was hearing…and seeing…"

"I suppose you wouldn't," said James.

"No, and I got mad at you when she asked you if you told anyone that you were going out and you said you didn't even tell me and… James!" Something dawned suddenly on Lily. "You shouldn't've—_we_ shouldn't've—arrgh—you and me, we couldn't!—we can't kiss like that! You're dating Marshmallow, aren't you? You just can't kiss me! We must pretend like that never happened! We—"

"Why?" James interrupted calmly. "I'll just break up with her next time I see her."

Lily's mouth flung open. Tears began forming at her eyes. "I knew you'd never change, James," she whispered as she marched out of the Astronomy tower, crying.

James had no idea what to do. One minute they were getting along fine—_kissing,_ even!—and the next, Lily was mad at him again.

"Now what?" James asked to no one in particular (not that anyone was there). He shook his head and went down, convinced he was going to be late for Transfiguration.

And indeed he was. Professor McGonagall had almost deducted ten points from Gryffindor, but James had smooth-talked his way out of it.

Today, they were doing Vanishing.

"The incantation I am about to teach you now is one of the most difficult things you will ever learn in this school, and it is incredibly important for your N.E.W.T.s," Professor McGonagall told the class. "Everyone say _Evanesco!_"

"_Evanesco!_" chanted the class. James, Sirius, and Remus looked boredly at each other; they already were perfect in Vanishing. Peter, on the other hand, was having a lot of trouble just saying the incantation.

"Now, you all try it," instructed Professor McGonagall. "I have provided you all with a toad. Successfully Vanish your toad, and you will progress to a raven. Begin!"

Peter had a go at it. "_Evenacso!_" he said, waving his wand hopefully. Nothing happened.

"Wormtail!" said Sirius. "You aren't even _saying_ it correctly. How do you hope to Vanish something without even saying the spell properly?"

"I don't know!" Peter wailed. "I can't do this!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and went to go help him.

James found this opportunity useful to talk to Moony privately. "Moony, I've…got a problem."

Remus looked up from his book. "Go on…"

"Well, today, when we were talking to those Sweets…" James told Remus the entire story of what happened up in the Astronomy tower. "And then Lily said, 'I knew you'd never change, James,' and she left crying! I don't know what I did to upset her at all!"

Remus shook his head. "You idiot."

"What?" James asked indignantly. "What am I supposed to do if she all of a sudden starts crying for no reason?"

Remus cleared his throat as if he were going to give an exceptionally long lecture. "Well, first of all, you shouldn't have said that you were going to break up with her right away. I mean, you did cheat on her didn't you?"

"So? I like Lily now!"

"That's exactly what the problem is! You gave Lily the wrong impression! She's probably thinking that if randomly you see another girl, then you have no problem kissing her! That you are perfectly comfortable with cheating on Lily! So, if you see another girl and kiss her, you'll break up with Lily. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

James began to understand. "Yeah…"

"So, you shouldn't've said that. You could've said that you'd try to forget about the kiss and that you couldn't just break up with Miriam, right? And then you could have told Lily you love her and you always wanted to be with her, but you were stuck with Miriam. Don't suggest anything. Wait until Lily asks you to do something."

"Like what?"

"Like, I don't know!"

James sighed. "Thanks, Moony. You really put it in perspective for me."

"Shut up."

"What?"

"How else can I explain it? This is as clear as I can translate a girl's mind for you, okay?" said Remus irritably. "Now, let me read!"

James Vanished his toad and Professor McGonagall gave him a raven. He Vanished that too, and she awarded twenty points to Gryffindor. Sirius also managed and so did Remus, and miraculously, so did Peter, so eighty points were awarded to the Marauders that day.

Meanwhile--

"Angel, I need to talk to you," Lily whispered urgently during Care of Magical Creatures class. "But I can't do it in front of…" She gestured at "the Sweets" and the Marauders.

"Oh, I _see_," said Angel, and Lily guessed that Angel really _didn't _see anything.

Professor Kettleburn, who just gave a yell of pain as he was burnt for the third time that week, dismissed the class early, as he needed to cure himself.

The next class was Divination and Lily didn't have any time to talk to Angel properly in between, so they decided to talk during their irritating time with Professor Hardlebee, who claimed she was a true Seer. Lily and Angel liked her; she was fun.

"This is a load of junk," said Angel, peering into the crystal ball and seeing nothing but fog.

"Now, don't give up so easily!" said Professor Hardlebee, making Lily and Angel jump. "Let me have a looksee, now."

She gazed into Lily's crystal ball. "I see a figure…he—or she—is coming closer…I see…hair…messy hair…it's…black. It's definitely a he…and he's wearing glasses…"

Lily stared at her disbelievingly; she was describing _James_.

"Wait! There's another one! It's…it's…it's a _girl_…and she's coming closer to him…! And they're…oh _my_!..."

"What? What happened?" said Angel, not being able to bear the strain of not knowing what was going on.

"They were…er…" Hardlebee hesitated. "I don't know if you should hear things like this…"

"Come on Professor!" said Lily. "You can tell us…"

"They were _kissing!_" she whispered. "And the girl…she was _you_, Lily!"

Lily flushed. "Are you sure you're telling the future, Professor?"

"Of course I am! Why do you ask?... Oh…you already…" Hardlebee had a look of dawning comprehension. "I see."

"Right," said Lily, flushing even more; she hadn't told Angel yet and Angel was staring at Lily. "Sorry, Angel! This is what I needed to talk to you about…" she said as Hardlebee fluttered away.

Angel sighed. "What a problem. _You kissed James Potter?_ I can't believe it…"

And at that moment, James turned up next to them. "I need to talk to you Lily," he said desperately.


End file.
